(Bloomberg) — Democrats made a mistake by passing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) in 2010 instead of focusing more directly on helping the middle class, third-ranking U.S. Senate Democrat Charles Schumer said today.
"Unfortunately, Democrats blew the opportunity the American people gave them" in electing Obama and a Democratic Congress in 2008 amid a recession, Schumer of New York said in a speech in Washington. "We took their mandate and put all our focus on the wrong problem — health care reform."
Schumer said Democrats should have addressed issues aiding the middle class to build confidence among voters before turning to revamping the health-care system. He said he opposed the timing of the health-care vote and was overruled by other party members.
"The plight of uninsured Americans and the hardships created by unfair insurance company practices certainly needed to be addressed," the senator said. "But it wasn't the change we were hired to make" in the 2008 election.
Schumer's comments represent an unusual public intra-party critique of the way Obama's signature legislative achievement was enacted. The senator spoke at the National Press Club to analyze the results of this month's election, when Republicans took control of the Senate and increased their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
